Year 2009

Krakow On the Heels of Sydney
Krakow has been designated the world’s second most
favored city in 2008 by the Guardian, one of the
UK’s top broadsheets. Over 17,000 of its readers
returned completed questionnaires in an annual
survey, voting for the best tourist destinations,
attractions, carriers, etc. This year in the ‘favourite
overseas city’ category Krakow has outdone all
competitors except Sydney, ahead of San Francisco,
Singapore, and Vancouver.

Soldier Graves in the Krakow Area, Now Easy to Find
Online service at www.muw.pl/grobywojenne provides
information about graves of the fallen in all wars
since 1655 till now in the
Malopolska province. The website contains
names of killed combatants of every nationality,
their military posting, dates of their deaths, and
situation of graves with photos of the sites. An
interactive map and a search engine help to locate
burial grounds. There are some 1,500 known military
cemeteries and individual soldier graves in the
Malopolska province of which a thousand or so have
been catalogued to date by the website. The project
is a joint venture of
Krakow’s university students of the
history faculty and the office of wojewoda, the
province’s governor.

Biggest But One
Now it’s official – Krakow has become Poland’s second
biggest city. According to the country’s Main
Statistical Office, a governmental body, Krakow had
756,529 registered citizens by the end of September,
and for the first time they outnumbered Lodz’s
755,234 legal residents. The capital city Warsaw is
Poland’s biggest by far with nearly 1.8 million
inhabitants.

Krakow Eyes Euro 2012
Krakow is desperate to host some of the events of the
Euro 2012 continental football championships awarded
jointly to Poland and Ukraine. The city council
unanimously passed a resolution appealing to Michel
Platini, the president of the UEFA, to choose Krakow
as the site of the championship’s opening game as
well as a semifinal and a quarterfinal in addition
to qualifying matches in 2012. The city was
originally assigned to a reserve as it lost to other
Polish municipalities in the opening bid for the
Euro 2012 events. Now it is among six remaining
candidates. The UEFA is to make the final decision
late in May, 2009.

Malopolska: Tourism Ebbed in 2008, Somewhat
In the last year the
Malopolska province attracted 12.5
million visitors from Poland and abroad and most of
them, over seven million came to
Krakow – the provincial capital, the
region’s metropolis, and its premier lure. The
number of foreign tourists dropped to 2.7 million
and they spent some 600,000 million euros. A quarter
of all foreigners arrived in 2008 from the UK, 17.8
percent from Germany, 9.3 percent from Italy, 6.6
percent from Russia, 5.7 percent from France, 5.4
percent from Spain, 5.1 percent from the States, 4.3
percent from Ireland, four percent from Austria, and
3.7 percent from Slovakia. A typical visit to
Malopolska lasted six days. An average American
spent over 760 euros, an Italian 590-plus euros, a
Russian some 560 euros, a Briton roughly 406 euros,
a German 355.5 euros, while a Slovak a meager 165
euros. The greatest satisfaction with their visit
declared Spaniards who gave it an average grade of
8.8 in scale from one to ten, compared to 8.5 mark
awarded by Germans, Frenchmen, and Irishmen, 8.4 by
Britons and Americans, 8.3 by Austrians and
Italians, 7.9 by Russians, and 7.6 by Slovaks.

Krakow Opera House, the Overture
Krakow Opera Company has got a brand-new
and long overdue Opera House. The 12,000-sq-meter
state-of-the-art building at 48 Lubicz street took
four years to build at the cost of some 27 million
euro. It contains two theaters that may seat 760 and
100 respectively. The premiere of ‘Devils of Loudun’,
Krzysztof Penderecki’s operatic work, was chosen for
the official opening of Krakow’s new Opera House on
December 13, 2008.

NATO Takes Krakow

Krakow is the venue for a two-day conference of NATO
defense ministers on February 19 and February 20.
The conference, chaired by NATO Secretary General
and hosted by Poland’s Minister of Defense Bogdan
Klich, will try to charter the best course for the
organization in 2009. Defense Secretary Robert Gates
is to represent the Barack Obama new administration.
The Polish organizers expect a contingent of some
200 experts and 300 foreign journalists to descend
on the city besides official delegations and
staffs.

Enters Krak, Krakow’s Token Coin
City of Krakow has issued its own currency, sort of,
and called it krak. Its tokens come in the form of
coins produced by Poland's mint, Mennica Polska, and
called ducat (the Polish spelling dukat). The
reverse of the coin depicts
traditional Lajkonik pageant with
St. Mary’s church in the background while
the other side is emblazoned with a stylized letter
K with a crown and a floral pattern. Krakow's brass
“ducat” has the face value of four kraks, one krak
being the equivalent of one
zloty, Poland's official currency. The
city's shops accept the tokens from April 3 to May
31 and afterwards they become souvenirs and –
hopefully – a collector’s items. Affluent collectors
may opt for one of 2,000 silver “coins” with the
price tag of 200 zloties or even a 24-carat gold
“ducat” that costs 2,500 zloties. The mayor of
Krakow, Professor Jacek Majchrowski, said the
municipality would issue a new coin twice a year –
one before Easter, another ahead of Christmas – till
2014. The whole series is to have Krakow’s legends
as its theme.

Krakow Film Festival
49th Krakow Film Festival, May 29 to June 4, attracted
more than 2,200 entries from all over the world. Its
selection committee chose 94 movies for the festival
three independent competitions – 51 for the short
film international contest (19 documentaries, 17
animations, and 15 live action), 12 for the
documentary feature international contest, and 31
for the Polish domestic contest. Their respective
trophies are Golden Dragon, Golden Horn, and Golden
Lajkonik. This year’s honorary award for lifetime
achievement went to Krakow’s animation Jerzy Kucia.
Miscellaneous auxiliary events included
retrospective of films with scores composed by late
Krzysztof Komeda on the 40th anniversary of his
premature death.

Wawel Castle Hosts European Leaders on June 4 The Eastern
European Leaders meet in Krakow June 4 to celebrate
the 20th anniversary of the demise of communism in
the region and the dawn of the independence of their
countries from the Soviet empire. On June 4, 1989
Poland held the first democratic elections in the
Eastern Europe since World War II and thus it set in
motion the train of events that brought freedom to
the rest of the then Warsaw Pact, led to the
collapse of the Soviet Union, and ended communist
rule in Europe. The heads of states and governments
will convene in
Krakow’s Wawel Royal Castle. At the same
time, the city will host a concurrent meeting of the
youth delegations from the Eastern Europe. The event
was originally meant to take place in Gdansk and the
Polish government has moved it to Krakow in the face
of the massive demonstrations planned by the Gdansk
shipyard’s trade unionists in protest against the
looming liquidation of their workplace. The
Solidarity trade union has threatened to stage a
mass rally in Krakow as well.

Malopolska Elected Its MEPs
In the wake of the latest general election on Sunday,
June 7 seven deputies will represent
Malopolska
Province together with smaller Swietokrzyskie Province
in the European Parliament. Right-wing PiS (Law and
Justice) party got three MEPs - Zbigniew Ziobro,
Pawel Kowal, and Wladyslaw Wlosowicz. Center-right
PO (Civic Platform) sends two MEPs to Strasbourg,
Roza Thun and incumbent Boguslaw Sonik while Czeslaw
Siekierski and Joanna Szenyszyn will represent
respectively PSL (Polish Peasants' Party) and SLD
(Alliance of the Democratic Left). Voter turnout in
Malopolska/Swietokrzyskie was 26.1 percent compared
to 24.5 percent for entire Poland.

Tour de Pologne, the Finish in Krakow
This year’s 66th
Tour de Pologne will culminate with the finish on
the
streets of Krakow on Saturday, August
8th. The 1253-kilometer, seven-stage cycling race
starts in
Warsaw
on August 2nd. Poland’s Tour de Pologne is part of
the main UCI Pro Tour professional cycling circuit
alongside Tour de France, Italy’s Giro d’Italia, or
Spain’s Vuelta a Espana. All top teams are expected
to show up with their star cyclists. Poland’s
national team of eight has been given a wild
card. First stage of the 2009 Tour de Pologne is a
108-kilometer city circuit race in Warsaw. Next
three stages run through the mostly flat eastern
half of
Poland with
finishes in Bialystok, Lublin, and Rzeszow. Last
three legs of the race take place in the country’s
mountainous south. Most strenuous is the
162-kilometer stage between Kroscienko and
Zakopane, in the
Malopolska Province, that includes eleven
mountain time bonuses, with a first-class uphill
stretch ending 1140 meters above sea level. The
first Tour de Pologne took place in 1928. The 66th
Tour de Pologne will end with the finish at Krakow's
Blonia common, expected between 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m.
on August 8th. Prior to it the race is to circle
Rynek Glowny central square.

Pray for Peace, Remember War in Krakow
Archbishop Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz invited leaders
of the world's major religions to Krakow this
September for a common prayer for peace. Some 500
key religious figures arrived from all over the
world for a three-day Congress for Peace – People
and Religions, September 6th to September 8th, 2009.
The meeting is to launch yearly inter-religious
supplications to make the Earth a peaceful place for
the entire mankind. Similar events took place every
year in Assisi during the lifetime of Pope John Paul
II. The first Krakow peace congregation was
organized by Italy’s Sant'Egidio Community and the
Krakow Archdiocese to commemorate the 70th
anniversary of the outbreak of World War II on
September 1, 1939. Besides the Catholic prelates,
the congress gathered prominent members of the
clergy of other Christian denominations as well as
Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shinto, Jainism,
and Parseeism. The guest list includes Israel’s
chief rabbi Yona Metzger and heads of the ancient
oriental churches Karekine II Katolikos, Abuna
Paulos, and Chrysostomos II. On Sunday, September
6th, the first day of the congress, its program
consists of the morning meeting of Christians in the
Sanctuary of Divine Mercy followed by afternoon
opening session in Auditorium Maximum of the
Jagiellonian University. The second day,
September 7th, was set aside for panel discussions.
Finally, there was planned a visit to
Auschwitz on September 8th, followed by a common
prayer for peace and later in the evening – on
Krakow’s Rynek Glowny central square – an appeal to
the world for peace.

Poland's Luminaries to Debate Polish Culture in
Krakow.
Krakow hosts the 6th Congress of Polish Culture,
September 23rd through September 25th. Previous such
highbrow powwows took place in the years 1910, 1936,
1966, 1981, and 2000. This year’s Polish Culture
Congress gathers 1,100 of the country’s first-rate
luminaries and celebrities to debate such noble and
pressing issues as the impact of Poland’s
transformation and accession to the EU, changes in
the government’s handling of culture over the last
two decades, desirable directions in the cultural
policy of the state, and challenges brought by
globalization. The congress consists of 26 symposia
grouped into three clusters. The first one, called ‘Creative
Space’, deals with literature, music and the
visual arts. Another, ‘Institutions for Culture’,
comprises discussions about modernization of
cultural life and the use of the new tools and
technology. And lastly, ‘Culture in Society’
pertains to the functions of culture in contemporary
society and the relation between culture and the
Polish national identity. The congress has been
preceded by a series of 22 reports that total 5,000
pages published online at www.kongreskultury.pl
whose authors tried to provide a basis the
assessment of particular manifestations of culture,
from
book publishing
to various performing arts to the preservation of
national heritage. The same web site is to transmit
live deliberations from the congress venues in
Auditorium Maximum of the
Jagiellonian University at 35 Krupnicza
street and the
Jagiellonian Library at 22 Mickiewicza
avenue. The 6th Congress of Polish Culture is also
an occasion for a number of special
cultural event, including two open-air
concerts on
Krakow’s Rynek Glowny central
square, on September 23rd and September
24th, four exhibitions incorporated into the
International Print Triennial, and two
installations by Germany’s artist Ottmar Horl and
Poland’s Miroslaw Balka respectively. Program
council of the 6th Congress of Polish Culture,
chaired by Professor Piotr Sztompka, consists of
Stanislaw Beres, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz,
Agnieszka Holland, Zina Jarmoszuk, Andrzej K.
Kozmiński, Jerzy Kozmiński, Michal Merczynski,
Krzysztof Penderecki, Maria Poprzecka, Ada
Rottenberg, Krzysztof Warlikowski, Andrzej Rottermud,
Andrzej Wajda, Antoni Wit, and Edmund Wnuk-Lipinski.

The Big Print
International Print Triennial - Krakow 2009
has attracted some 6,000 entries from all corners of
the world. This year's contest with a series of
accompanying shows is already the 19th incarnation
of one of the world's biggest festivals of graphic
arts. Originated in Krakow in 1966 as a biennial
event, it was organized every second year in the
city until it morphed into a triennial in 1991. Jury
of the International Print Triennial - Krakow 2009,
chaired by Dr. Richard Noyce, awarded the Grand Prix
d’ Honneur to Bosnia’s Mersad Berber. Another main
prize, Grand Prix, goes to Poland’s Joanna Piech for
a couple of her black-and-white engravings. Main
exhibition of the 2009 International Print Triennial
takes place in
Bunkier Sztuki art gallery, 3a Plac
Szczepanski square at
Planty gardens, from September 17th to
October 11th. It shows over 300 best entries for the
competition, including all awarded prints. Program
of the 2009 International Print Triennial consists
of nearly sixty exhibitions, 26 in Krakow and the
rest in various Polish cities. They display a total
of 5,500 works of artists from 70 countries. Apart
from the main exhibition, Krakow's other highlights
of the latest print triennial include the show in
the
Krakow National Museum at 1, 3 Maja
street which displays works by the winners of the
Taiwan International Print Biennial (September 15th
to October 25th). Exhibition 'Polish Graphic Arts -
Art and Education' in the
Palace of Art at 4 Plac Szczepanski
square shows Poland's roster of contemporary artists
devoted to printmaking (September 14th to October
9th).

British Pigeon Abusers Arrested in Krakow
Two Britons will be brought to justice for tormenting
pigeons in central Krakow. They were catching the
birds on the Old Town’s central square where
trusting pigeons flock to tourists who feed them.
Next the playful Brits threw the birds in the
air. Apprehended in the act, both males have pleaded
guilty and petitioned for a fine instead of a trial.
Even as the public prosecutor has accepted the deal,
the local court may reject it. If so, the two
Britons will be awaiting trial in a district court
in Krakow on charges of cruelty to animals. In
Poland the crime is punishable by up to twelve
months’ imprisonment. Investigation revealed that
abused pigeons suffered broken wings and other
injuries. None of the offenders offered an
explanation of the incident. They agreed to pay a
fine of 600 zloties, i.e. an equivalent of about 150
euro. Up to now the typical British transgressions
in the city consisted in brawling between
stags partying in Krakow,
indecency, drinking in the open air, smoking at bus
stops, and generally breaches of the peace.

Soccer Champs Skip Krakow for a Year
Krakow’s top soccer team,
Wisla Krakow, which won Poland’s 2009
football championship last May, second time in a row
and twelfth in the history of the club, will not
play in the city for the next twelve months. Its
stadium at 22 Reymonta street is undergoing
modernization and expansion that is scheduled to
last till June 2010. For the time being Wisla is
going to use football stadium in the city of
Sosnowiec, some 70 kilometers west of Krakow.